February 12, 2021: The Love of a Good Tool -

Way back in the beginning of the pandemic, I had a list of Five Competing Imperatives, and the fifth one was: We need tools.  

That category was always a grab bag. At first, "tools" were things like hand sanitizer, masks, PPE and accurate COVID tests; a decent national database monitoring cases, hospitalizations, and deaths; ventilators; and a system (and people) dedicated to contact tracing. Then "tools" became things like techniques (e.g., proning) and treatments to lessen severity. Now, at last, we have the ultimate tools: effective vaccines.  We just don’t have as many of them (and as many people and places to administer them) as we need. But that should happen by the end of the summer.

Meanwhile, it's winter, and people are trying to keep their chins up while they wait their turn at a shot. In Portland, we're having one of our signature ice storms, though NOAA suggests this one may be "one of the largest ice events in recent memory." (There's no point in me giving you a link - the NOAA site is being revised every five minutes today, and they sometimes delete entire weather reports. It's a zoo over there.) 

The ice layer over this morning's snow is so thick, I can stand on it and not break through. Time was when ice storms meant I stayed inside, afraid of taking a hard fall. But no more: I have microspikes. 

They were a Christmas present some years ago, and I thought they were not very gift-like, honestly, until that year's ice struck. They changed my ice-storm life. I love them with a pure and uncomplicated fervor. My husband says this sort of love is what a person feels for a good tool. I think he might be right.